February 9, 2025 • 11 mins
Romance novels have woven their way into the fabric of literature, evolving from medieval tales to modern masterpieces that champion themes of empowerment and diversity. I, Tanisha, your guide on this literary journey, promise to uncover how these love stories have transformed over the centuries, from the chivalric tales of Tristan and Isolde to the sultry sagas gracing supermarket shelves today. Through the lens of iconic works by the Brontë sisters to the sizzling pages of "Onyx Storm," romance is more than just a genre—it's a reflection of cultural shifts and personal empowerment.
Join me as I explore the digital revolution that has democratized publishing, allowing voices from all walks to contribute to the rich tapestry of romance novels. Platforms like Wattpad have not only broadened access but also amplified diverse stories that celebrate LGBTQ and multicultural themes. Whether you're a fan of romantic comedies or thrillers, there's a tale waiting to captivate your heart and mind. Grab your favorite cozy spot and tune in to celebrate the transformative power of love through the literary world.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Greetings and salutations and welcome to
another episode of WellnessThrough Reading.
I am your host, tanisha.
This podcast is dedicated tokeeping reading a daily habit as
a form of self-care.
On this podcast I talk aboutall things books, genres,
research, articles and all thehealth benefits of reading daily
.
Also books that I'm currentlyreading, and so much more.
(00:21):
So today's episode is all aboutlove and books, the rise of
romance, exploring love throughthe pages.
Let's dive right on in, shallwe?
So I definitely have noticedjust in my own reading how much
more romance I have been readinglately.
Normally I'm an adventure,horror, thriller type of girl,
but romance novels are basicallynovels.
(00:41):
That love obviously is thecentral theme and obviously over
the past weeks some of the topselling fiction books have been
romances really.
So let's start talking aboutthe origin of romance in
literature and let's see so aromance form of romance in
(01:04):
literature comes down to Song ofRoland or Tristan and Isabel,
and really it kind of goes backto the medieval tales of
chivalry, courtly love shaped byearly perception.
What romantic love can reallybe like?
That type of romantic?
The guy asking the father forthe girl's hand in marriage, all
that fun jazz, and it's kind ofmaking, especially with, like,
the Bridgerton series andeverything it's making its
resurgence back into mainstreamculture.
(01:26):
And so when we go from there tothe evolution of romance
through the 19th century, thegrowing popularity of romance
novels in the victorian era, weget, you know, the charlie
bronte uh, emily bronte works ofriven heights, jane eyre and so
the rise, really, of women'snovels as a genre focused on
emotional journeys, domesticallyand romantic love.
(01:47):
So then the birth of the modernromance, so the shift toward
more modern romance.
With the 20th century ofholocaust romance novels you
know the very steamy books thatyou see at the checkout counters
at the grocery stores it reallybecomes more mass, popular and
yeah, and really in turn hasbecome a global phenomenon.
(02:09):
So the intersection of romanceand feminism I definitely feel
like that's kind of whereromance has been going, the rise
of female empowerment in theromance novels, especially for
late 20th century onward.
Contemporary romance novelsoften reflect themes of
independence, equality andsexual liberation.
I've definitely noticed thattoo, especially with this last
(02:30):
book I read onyx storm.
If you've been following me ontiktok under literary lover,
also on instagram as well too,you know I've just finished
reading it.
I took my time reading onyxstorm, because I really want to
just take my last.
I think with iron flame I readit too fast and that's why I
didn't enjoy it.
But with onyx storm I took mytime.
I got off social media and justread it little by little each
(02:52):
day until I got to the end andreally, though it's it, while it
is a fantasy, it's more romancethan fantasy really.
Um, if, for those of you who arenew to the fantasy genre, it's
a great way for romance readersto get into fantasy, and it does
do a lot of the world building,which is very new in fantasy as
well.
But it does cater more onrelationships, not only on the
(03:13):
male female relationship ofviolet and zayden, but also on
bisexual relationships, gayrelationship.
It's very sexually fluid, ifyou hear me.
So you definitely see a lot ofthat by, like Soren Galt being
like the main character in thatarc and she being obviously
woman empowerment.
She has a disability, so youhave disabled net as well too,
(03:35):
so there's a lot there.
As far as contemporary romancegoes and I mean romance, I mean
really the landscape of romancenovel has got really evolved so
much.
It's really you can go fromromantic comedies all the way up
to dark romance with like thecat and mouse theories, um, and
(03:59):
also romantic thrillers as welltoo.
We have a huge influence ofdigital platform like wattpad,
self-publishing and online bookcommunity as well too.
So you don't even need to go tothese big publishing book
houses anymore.
You can just self-publishonline, and I think one of the
key things I really like aboutthat is that the diverse
representation of romance aswell too Like I said, lgbtq
(04:20):
romance, multicultural romance,body positivity so it does help
with, does make sure thateveryone is included.
You know, love is love.
That's how I feel and also amodern bestseller, colin hoover
now, I know a lot of peoplelistening to this are huge colin
hoover fans.
Can I just say I am not one ofthose people.
(04:41):
It ends with us was not myfavorite.
I don't like how she kind ofromanticized domestic violence.
I understand that she was justtrying to understand, because
she also talked about it.
I actually read an interviewthat she said Talking about how
to explain how her own motherwas abused by her partner and
how she took her a long time tounderstand why she stayed for so
(05:05):
long, and so through thesebooks she was able to heal from
that, but I definitely felt likethere should have been a big
disclaimer, not only in thebooks but also the movie as well
too.
I didn't go see it and I knowall the drama with everything
that happened.
The irony of it all is a bookabout domestic violence and
everything that's happening withthe two main actors, but I will
(05:25):
say the book talk movement hashelped to progress the romance
genre so much so now, just Isaid, the last book I mentioned
was on a storm by Rebecca Rios.
It was a number one best-sellingbook by a female author for the
past like decade, I think.
I saw on the New York Times.
Actually, according to the NewYork Times, rebecca Yarrow's
(05:49):
Honored Storm is the fastestselling adult novel in 20 years,
and I must say I had alreadypre-ordered the Kindle, the book
with the sprayed edges, and theaudiobook as well too.
So I've been doing all three.
Honestly, I'm on my secondreread of it right now and I
gotta say it was just fun, itwas entertaining, it was very
(06:11):
modern in its speaking andwhatnot, but obviously it
definitely kind of goes back tothat medieval, courtly type of
love.
And obviously dragons I meanhello, dragons, dragons, more
dragons.
More on that later, but I willsay, though, what this world now
, really, it's just a lot morelove.
I gotta say, with all thepoliticking and everything
that's been going on, a greatway to just defuse from all of
(06:33):
that is to really just dive inand just take some time out and
just read about happiness andjoy and whatnot, and, honestly,
though, I will find that I amless stressed out when I'm
reading about love than I'mreading about all the other
genres as well, too, becauseit's just more fun.
Also, the spicy scenes are alot spicier as well, too.
So just a little bit of that.
(06:55):
So that was my main topic forthe day romance and novels.
I also want to go into a littlebit about my 20 February 2025
intentions.
So my intentions this month isto journal daily, save roughly
$500 to my emergency fund um,I'm trying to get back into
exercising as well, too.
I got, like this Pilates bar,that I've been using drink water
(07:17):
at least eight ounces sorry, 64ounces daily, and read at least
four new books.
So, uh, so far, I've been doingpretty good on my reading goals
.
I got so far 13 out of 50 booksread, so I'm doing all right.
I'm getting ahead.
I had a really great month lastmonth.
That's what it is.
I really wanted to get aheadthis time because last month,
(07:39):
last year, I did not do well onmy reading goals, so I'm doing
better this year.
Tell me what you.
What about you?
What are your intentions forthis month?
What are your reading goals forthis month?
Let me know in the commentsection below.
So another part of this podcastthat I really want to do I
really want to encourage myreaders to also get a journal
(08:00):
and start journaling as well too.
Not just journaling for reading,but also for your own personal
um benefit as well too.
Here on the wellness throughreading podcast, I can talk
about not all things reading,but wellness as well too, and
journaling is definitely a bigpart of that can help with
wellness.
Journaling is a more reflectiveand person.
It's more reflective and it canbe personal.
It's a space to expressthoughts, emotion, experiences.
(08:22):
Some of its key benefitsinclude emotional clarity.
It can be personal.
It's a space to expressthoughts, emotions and
experiences.
Some of its key benefitsinclude emotional clarity.
It can help process feelings,reduce stress and gain insight
on emotional states.
It can also do self-discovery.
It fosters personal growth byallowing you to explore thoughts
and behaviors leading togreater self-awareness,
creativity.
Writing freely in a journal canboost creativity and problem
solving skills.
(08:42):
And also one of my favorites,mindfulness.
I encourage being present andhelps track personal growth of
or over life events over time.
So now that we've reached theend of this pocket, I mean I've
decided that to help really growthe podcast, I'm gonna do two
podcasts for a week.
(09:02):
I'm gonna do one on Sundayswhere I'm gonna just talk more
about wellness, and then oneduring the middle of the week
where I'm gonna do like a fullbook review.
So this week, drum roll, we'regonna do part one of the Onyx
Storm podcast.
I'm gonna talk about thingsthat I read, theories that I
have coming up, and so if youare interested and want to hear
(09:22):
more, please hit that subscribebutton.
Share with family and friendsalso.
Also, you can follow me ontiktok, while we have it, god
literary lover, and also oninstagram at wellness through
reading.
I'm also up on youtube as well,too.
Podcast episodes will beuploaded twice a week, one on
Sundays, one on Wednesdays.
And with that, I thank you somuch for listening.
(09:43):
I hope you all have a greatsuper bowl sunday and I'll see
you again on wednesday.
Bye.
Greetings and salutations and welcome to
another episode of WellnessThrough Reading.
I am your host, tanisha.
This podcast is dedicated tokeeping reading a daily habit as
a form of self-care.
On this podcast I talk aboutall things books, genres,
research, articles and all thehealth benefits of reading daily
.
Also books that I'm currentlyreading, and so much more.
(00:21):
So today's episode is all aboutlove and books, the rise of
romance, exploring love throughthe pages.
Let's dive right on in, shallwe?
So I definitely have noticedjust in my own reading how much
more romance I have been readinglately.
Normally I'm an adventure,horror, thriller type of girl,
but romance novels are basicallynovels.
(00:41):
That love obviously is thecentral theme and obviously over
the past weeks some of the topselling fiction books have been
romances really.
So let's start talking aboutthe origin of romance in
literature and let's see so aromance form of romance in
(01:04):
literature comes down to Song ofRoland or Tristan and Isabel,
and really it kind of goes backto the medieval tales of
chivalry, courtly love shaped byearly perception.
What romantic love can reallybe like?
That type of romantic?
The guy asking the father forthe girl's hand in marriage, all
that fun jazz, and it's kind ofmaking, especially with, like,
the Bridgerton series andeverything it's making its
resurgence back into mainstreamculture.
(01:26):
And so when we go from there tothe evolution of romance
through the 19th century, thegrowing popularity of romance
novels in the victorian era, weget, you know, the charlie
bronte uh, emily bronte works ofriven heights, jane eyre and so
the rise, really, of women'snovels as a genre focused on
emotional journeys, domesticallyand romantic love.
(01:47):
So then the birth of the modernromance, so the shift toward
more modern romance.
With the 20th century ofholocaust romance novels you
know the very steamy books thatyou see at the checkout counters
at the grocery stores it reallybecomes more mass, popular and
yeah, and really in turn hasbecome a global phenomenon.
(02:09):
So the intersection of romanceand feminism I definitely feel
like that's kind of whereromance has been going, the rise
of female empowerment in theromance novels, especially for
late 20th century onward.
Contemporary romance novelsoften reflect themes of
independence, equality andsexual liberation.
I've definitely noticed thattoo, especially with this last
(02:30):
book I read onyx storm.
If you've been following me ontiktok under literary lover,
also on instagram as well too,you know I've just finished
reading it.
I took my time reading onyxstorm, because I really want to
just take my last.
I think with iron flame I readit too fast and that's why I
didn't enjoy it.
But with onyx storm I took mytime.
I got off social media and justread it little by little each
(02:52):
day until I got to the end andreally, though it's it, while it
is a fantasy, it's more romancethan fantasy really.
Um, if, for those of you who arenew to the fantasy genre, it's
a great way for romance readersto get into fantasy, and it does
do a lot of the world building,which is very new in fantasy as
well.
But it does cater more onrelationships, not only on the
(03:13):
male female relationship ofviolet and zayden, but also on
bisexual relationships, gayrelationship.
It's very sexually fluid, ifyou hear me.
So you definitely see a lot ofthat by, like Soren Galt being
like the main character in thatarc and she being obviously
woman empowerment.
She has a disability, so youhave disabled net as well too,
(03:35):
so there's a lot there.
As far as contemporary romancegoes and I mean romance, I mean
really the landscape of romancenovel has got really evolved so
much.
It's really you can go fromromantic comedies all the way up
to dark romance with like thecat and mouse theories, um, and
(03:59):
also romantic thrillers as welltoo.
We have a huge influence ofdigital platform like wattpad,
self-publishing and online bookcommunity as well too.
So you don't even need to go tothese big publishing book
houses anymore.
You can just self-publishonline, and I think one of the
key things I really like aboutthat is that the diverse
representation of romance aswell too Like I said, lgbtq
(04:20):
romance, multicultural romance,body positivity so it does help
with, does make sure thateveryone is included.
You know, love is love.
That's how I feel and also amodern bestseller, colin hoover
now, I know a lot of peoplelistening to this are huge colin
hoover fans.
Can I just say I am not one ofthose people.
(04:41):
It ends with us was not myfavorite.
I don't like how she kind ofromanticized domestic violence.
I understand that she was justtrying to understand, because
she also talked about it.
I actually read an interviewthat she said Talking about how
to explain how her own motherwas abused by her partner and
how she took her a long time tounderstand why she stayed for so
(05:05):
long, and so through thesebooks she was able to heal from
that, but I definitely felt likethere should have been a big
disclaimer, not only in thebooks but also the movie as well
too.
I didn't go see it and I knowall the drama with everything
that happened.
The irony of it all is a bookabout domestic violence and
everything that's happening withthe two main actors, but I will
(05:25):
say the book talk movement hashelped to progress the romance
genre so much so now, just Isaid, the last book I mentioned
was on a storm by Rebecca Rios.
It was a number one best-sellingbook by a female author for the
past like decade, I think.
I saw on the New York Times.
Actually, according to the NewYork Times, rebecca Yarrow's
(05:49):
Honored Storm is the fastestselling adult novel in 20 years,
and I must say I had alreadypre-ordered the Kindle, the book
with the sprayed edges, and theaudiobook as well too.
So I've been doing all three.
Honestly, I'm on my secondreread of it right now and I
gotta say it was just fun, itwas entertaining, it was very
(06:11):
modern in its speaking andwhatnot, but obviously it
definitely kind of goes back tothat medieval, courtly type of
love.
And obviously dragons I meanhello, dragons, dragons, more
dragons.
More on that later, but I willsay, though, what this world now
, really, it's just a lot morelove.
I gotta say, with all thepoliticking and everything
that's been going on, a greatway to just defuse from all of
(06:33):
that is to really just dive inand just take some time out and
just read about happiness andjoy and whatnot, and, honestly,
though, I will find that I amless stressed out when I'm
reading about love than I'mreading about all the other
genres as well, too, becauseit's just more fun.
Also, the spicy scenes are alot spicier as well, too.
So just a little bit of that.
(06:55):
So that was my main topic forthe day romance and novels.
I also want to go into a littlebit about my 20 February 2025
intentions.
So my intentions this month isto journal daily, save roughly
$500 to my emergency fund um,I'm trying to get back into
exercising as well, too.
I got, like this Pilates bar,that I've been using drink water
(07:17):
at least eight ounces sorry, 64ounces daily, and read at least
four new books.
So, uh, so far, I've been doingpretty good on my reading goals
.
I got so far 13 out of 50 booksread, so I'm doing all right.
I'm getting ahead.
I had a really great month lastmonth.
That's what it is.
I really wanted to get aheadthis time because last month,
(07:39):
last year, I did not do well onmy reading goals, so I'm doing
better this year.
Tell me what you.
What about you?
What are your intentions forthis month?
What are your reading goals forthis month?
Let me know in the commentsection below.
So another part of this podcastthat I really want to do I
really want to encourage myreaders to also get a journal
(08:00):
and start journaling as well too.
Not just journaling for reading,but also for your own personal
um benefit as well too.
Here on the wellness throughreading podcast, I can talk
about not all things reading,but wellness as well too, and
journaling is definitely a bigpart of that can help with
wellness.
Journaling is a more reflectiveand person.
It's more reflective and it canbe personal.
It's a space to expressthoughts, emotion, experiences.
(08:22):
Some of its key benefitsinclude emotional clarity.
It can be personal.
It's a space to expressthoughts, emotions and
experiences.
Some of its key benefitsinclude emotional clarity.
It can help process feelings,reduce stress and gain insight
on emotional states.
It can also do self-discovery.
It fosters personal growth byallowing you to explore thoughts
and behaviors leading togreater self-awareness,
creativity.
Writing freely in a journal canboost creativity and problem
solving skills.
(08:42):
And also one of my favorites,mindfulness.
I encourage being present andhelps track personal growth of
or over life events over time.
So now that we've reached theend of this pocket, I mean I've
decided that to help really growthe podcast, I'm gonna do two
podcasts for a week.
(09:02):
I'm gonna do one on Sundayswhere I'm gonna just talk more
about wellness, and then oneduring the middle of the week
where I'm gonna do like a fullbook review.
So this week, drum roll, we'regonna do part one of the Onyx
Storm podcast.
I'm gonna talk about thingsthat I read, theories that I
have coming up, and so if youare interested and want to hear
(09:22):
more, please hit that subscribebutton.
Share with family and friendsalso.
Also, you can follow me ontiktok, while we have it, god
literary lover, and also oninstagram at wellness through
reading.
I'm also up on youtube as well,too.
Podcast episodes will beuploaded twice a week, one on
Sundays, one on Wednesdays.
And with that, I thank you somuch for listening.
(09:43):
I hope you all have a greatsuper bowl sunday and I'll see
you again on wednesday.
Bye.
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